How important are foreign affairs in the grand scheme of civilization? Do defenses against the invasion of strangers influence the evolution of culture? Drawing on decades of experience in government as well as in the academy, William R. Polk offers a uniquely informed, comprehensive view of foreign relations. Bridging academic disciplines he treats foreign affairs as they occur in the real world. Instead of separating diplomacy, intelligence and espionage, defense and warfare, trade and aid, intervention and law from one another, he shows how they interact and together form a whole pattern with which we must deal if we are to move safely into the 21st century. But Neighbors and Strangers is not just a guide to the future; Polk draws upon all recorded history, and indeed upon studies of animal and primitive social behavior, and from the entire world for vivid examples to illuminate for the general reader the underlying principles and consistencies that characterize relations with foreigners.

Indeed, going deeper into the human experience, Polk documents "fear of the foreigner" as a visceral response so deep-seated and so pervasive that it transcends human memory, individual experience and even logical analysis. More generally, he shows that the tension created by having to live as neighbors with those who, in the definition of contemporaries, were irredeemably alien has been one of the major causes of the rise of civilizations.

Accessible and engaging, Neighbors and Strangers is a revelatory look at how foreign affairs are a profound reflection of human nature.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
IntroductionPt. I: The Bottom Line
1: Staying Alive in a Dangerous World
2: Out of the Mists of the Past
3: Our PossessionsPt. II: Defense
4: Keeping Them Out
5: Rome, Walled China, and Medieval Europe
6: Modern WallsPt. III: Armies and Warfare
7: The First Armies
8: Assyria and Rome
9: Soldiers, Mercenaries, and Guerrillas
10: The Colonial Auxiliary
11: Weapons
12: Modern ArmiesPt. IV: Nongovernmental Relations
13: Trade
14: The Trader
15: European Trade and Finance
16: The AmateursPt. V: Intelligence and Espionage
17: Getting to Know Them
18: Spies and Spymasters
19: Tools of the Trade
20: Espionage and CounterintelligencePt. VI: Diplomacy
21: Peaceful Relations between States
22: Worldviews and Strategy
23: The Conduct of Relations
24: The Medieval School of Statecraft
25: Diplomats and Their Masters
26: Intervention and International LawPt. VII: Getting Rid of the Alien
27: Parting Company
28: Ethnic Cleansing
29: Coming Together
Notes
Index

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How important are foreign affairs in the grand scheme of civilization? Do defenses against the invasion of strangers influence the evolution of culture? Drawing on decades of experience in government as well as in the academy, William R. Polk offers a uniquely informed, comprehensive view of foreign relations. Bridging academic disciplines he treats foreign affairs as they occur in the real world. Instead of separating diplomacy, intelligence and espionage, defense and warfare, trade and aid, intervention and law from one another, he shows how they interact and together form a whole pattern with which we must deal if we are to move safely into the 21st century. But Neighbors and Strangers is not just a guide to the future; Polk draws upon all recorded history, and indeed upon studies of animal and primitive social behavior, and from the entire world for vivid examples to illuminate for the general reader the underlying principles and consistencies that characterize relations with foreigners.

Indeed, going deeper into the human experience, Polk documents "fear of the foreigner" as a visceral response so deep-seated and so pervasive that it transcends human memory, individual experience and even logical analysis. More generally, he shows that the tension created by having to live as neighbors with those who, in the definition of contemporaries, were irredeemably alien has been one of the major causes of the rise of civilizations.

Accessible and engaging, Neighbors and Strangers is a revelatory look at how foreign affairs are a profound reflection of human nature.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
IntroductionPt. I: The Bottom Line
1: Staying Alive in a Dangerous World
2: Out of the Mists of the Past
3: Our PossessionsPt. II: Defense
4: Keeping Them Out
5: Rome, Walled China, and Medieval Europe
6: Modern WallsPt. III: Armies and Warfare
7: The First Armies
8: Assyria and Rome
9: Soldiers, Mercenaries, and Guerrillas
10: The Colonial Auxiliary
11: Weapons
12: Modern ArmiesPt. IV: Nongovernmental Relations
13: Trade
14: The Trader
15: European Trade and Finance
16: The AmateursPt. V: Intelligence and Espionage
17: Getting to Know Them
18: Spies and Spymasters
19: Tools of the Trade
20: Espionage and CounterintelligencePt. VI: Diplomacy
21: Peaceful Relations between States
22: Worldviews and Strategy
23: The Conduct of Relations
24: The Medieval School of Statecraft
25: Diplomats and Their Masters
26: Intervention and International LawPt. VII: Getting Rid of the Alien
27: Parting Company
28: Ethnic Cleansing
29: Coming Together
Notes
Index

REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE

If you are a student who has a disability that prevents you
from using this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.

Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.